An environmental advocate who has dedicated much of his work to the St. Croix River was recently recognized by an organization dedicated to America’s National Parks. Peter Gove spent much of the 1970s working on Minnesota environmental issues, then pursued a successful business career while continuing to support conservation causes. He helped found the Friends of the Mississippi River and expanded the St. Croix River Association (a St. Croix 36o sponsor) in 2009.

The National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) recently awarded Gove with the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Award. The award was named for life-long Everglades advocate Marjory Stoneman Douglas, a Minneapolis native. The annual award recognizes the efforts of an individual or group that result in the protection of a national park or proposed site in the National Park System.

“It is because of people like Peter that our national parks are protected and preserved. He is a true example of how our on-the-ground volunteers across the country are invaluable to our work and contribute greatly to our successes each day,” said Clark Bunting, President and CEO of the National Parks Conservation Association in a statement.

Gove has advocated for the closure of the Upper St. Anthony Falls lock in Minneapolis to keep invasive carp from advancing further up the Mississippi River, for protecting rivers and parks from cell phone towers and gravel mines, and was involved in efforts to stop the new Stillwater bridge. He has also sought to restore funding to the National Park Service.

Gove served as then Minnesota Governor Wendell R. Anderson’s environmental assistant, Executive Director of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, and was a founding member of Minnesota’s Environmental Quality Board. He served on Senator Anderson’s U.S. Senate staff and then as Chief of the Office of Legislation for the U.S. National Park Service during the Carter/Mondale Administration.

He currently serves as chair of NPCA’s Upper Midwest Regional Council, chair of The Trust for Public Land’s Minnesota Advisory Board, and as past chair of the St. Croix river Association.